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A PLEA 



FOR THE 



PRESERVATION OF 

Germantown's Historic 
Spots 



BY 

CHARLES FRANCIS JENKINS. 

W 



From an Address made at the initial meeting 
and directed to be 



PUBLISHED BY THE 

SITE AND RELIC SOCIETY. 
Gbrmantown, 1900. 



Gift 
Author 

10 M '04 






Germantown s Historic Spots 



The difference between many of the old 
inhabitants of Germantown, those to the 
manor born, and the new-comers, is some- 
thing like this : The old inhabitant's interest 
in Germantown's historic spots is a combi- 
nation of inward satisfaction and outward 
complacency and indifference; that of the 
new-comer's is one of inward admiration 
and outward and outspoken enthusiasm. 
As I am but a carpet-bagger of a little more 
than ten years' standing, my enthusiasm has 
not yet had time to cool. This interest 
is strengthened, perhaps, by the fact that I 
am able to trace descent from three of the 
thirteen original Germantown settlers, who 
on the 24th of October, 1683, drew lots in 
Pastorius's cave for their future homes in the 
then unbroken forest. 
3 



The reason the outside world has not ap- 
preciated Germantown more, is because the 
town slumbered through a century and 
a half of indifference to its own greatness, 
and did not understand or appreciate what 
wealth of historical interest it contained. 
It early came within my experience, and I 
believe the same experience has come to 
every person present, to entertain friends 
from some distant place who have bubbled 
over with enthusiasm at the quaint old 
houses, the beautiful and stately mansions, 
the long and crooked main street, and the 
rather limited information and somewhat 
hazy tradition and anecdotes which we were 
able to give them. And when they have 
asked for books they could consult on the 
subject, we have had to refer them to Wat- 
son's "Annals," published more than half 
a century ago, in which it is difficult now to 
determine what places he is describing ; to 
Townsend Ward's "Walks in German- 
town," which only extend up the main 
4 



street a little beyond Chelten Avenue, and 
in which the numbers of the houses are now 
all wrong ; to the Rev. S. F. Hotchkins' not 
altogether satisfactory compilation of arti- 
cles from the Germantown Telegraph ; to 
"Pemberton," Mr. Peterson's story of a 
hundred years ago, or to the still later, but 
not historically accurate, "Hugh Wynne." 

One of the first things this organization 
should do is to prepare an accurate, con- 
venient and comprehensive guide-book. Do 
you know of any New England town of any 
historical importance without such a book ? 
And, on the other hand, do you not know 
of many places which have only half the 
interest of ours clustering around them, each 
dignified and appreciated five-fold by the 
books that have been issued describing them ? 

Germantown is unique. There is no town 
in the United States more interesting his- 
torically. I say this without fear of success- 
ful contradiction. In its settlement by the 
Germans as early as 1683, it marks the 
S 



landing in this country of a race whose 
tremendous influence in forming and devel- 
oping our country can never be accurately 
measured. Is not this worth commemorat- 
ing ? It cherishes the spot from which was 
launched the first formal public protest 
against the institution of human slavery. 
Ought not such a spot be marked and re- 
membered forever ? 

It contains the birth-place of one of the 
greatest astronomers the State or country 
has produced. Is not such a spot worth 
marking ? Until within a year or so there 
existed the studio in which the painter, Gilbert 
Stuart, labored on the portrait of Washing- 
ton. Should this not be perpetuated ? With- 
in our borders was born one of the great in- 
dustries of our country, that of paper-making. 
Here, long before it was common in any 
other colony, printing and book-making 
were flourishing, and type-making in its in- 
fancy. Here spinning, weaving, knitting 
and shoe-making first assumed a magnitude 
6 



which can be likened only to the factory- 
system of the present day. Are not all 
these triumphs in the arts of peace worth 
noting and remembering ? 

Germantown's military history probably 
appeals most to the outside world, and this 
chapter in its career is best known. No 
other Revolutionary battle-field to-day con- 
tains more relics of what was an important 
and epoch-making battle. And yet of it 
there is not a single sign or letter or tablet 
or monument, except the two modest stones 
in our old burial yards — one over an Amer- 
ican dead in the upper yard, one over the 
British officers in the lower, both erected 
by Watson long ago and both now unknown 
and forgotten. 

Germantown was on two occasions the 
home of the first President of the United 
States and of members of his cabinet, and 
was to that extent the capital of the country. 
This house in which George Washington 
lived is the only one now standing which 
7 



served as a presidential home for any con- 
siderable time, — excepting, of course, Mt. 
Vernon. Germantown was temporarily the 
seat of the State government, and was the 
home of the first National Bank : — matters 
sufficiently important to be remembered and 
handed down. 

And then, our old Main Street ! Where is 
there one like it, with its solid, substantial 
houses, built of the native stone, dark and 
stained with age, as Silas Deane said, 
"rough children of nature, and German 
nature too" ? Shall we go to New England 
to find its counterpart ? If so, we shall just 
as likely find freshly painted clapboard, 
frame or lintel, looking as if they were built 
but yesterday. Go to the South ? We have 
the same frame buildings, with more of brick 
among them. In none of our old historic 
cities — Philadelphia, Boston, Richmond, 
Charleston, New York, Newport — are there 
so many dwelling-houses to be found in the 
same condition as they were a hundred years 
8 



ago, as there are in Germantown to-day. 
Does the architect know of better walls, or 
houses better suited to the climate ? The fact 
that he comes and copies their graceful lines 
and beautiful detail testifies to the skill and 
art of the early builder. 

Year by year some of these have gone, or 
have been changed past point of remem- 
brance. It will not do to expect that they 
may all be left, unsuited as many of them 
are to the growing business needs of the 
community ; but an aroused public senti- 
ment and awakened civic pride, a growing 
regard for the beauty and strength of long 
ago, and for the traditions and associations 
of the past, may yet preserve many of them 
from destruction. 

Let us care for these historic spots and 
relics while they are yet with us, and pre- 
serve them wherever possible. It will not 
detract from the value of the merchant's 
store to say, " On this spot Thomas Jeffer- 
son, Secretary of State, had his home," or 
9 



from the convenience of the building we are 
in to have an engraved tablet on its front 
stating that "Here the country's salt was 
stored during the nation's day of trial, and 
from this site the magnetic Whitfield 
preached to crowds gathered in the Market 
square below." And will it not add interest 
to any church to bear a tablet stating that 
"In this building George Washington, first 
President of the United States, worshipped," 
and so on ? 

We should make this movement one in 
which every public-spirited and patriotic 
citizen of Germantown would be interested ; 
it should enlist their sympathy, their hearty 
cooperation and support. Impinging in no 
way on the work of any society or organi- 
zation already formed, let it have but one 
definite purpose, — the preservation, com- 
memoration and marking by suitable signs 
and tablets or monuments of our historic 
spots, and the collection and preservation of 
relics connected with our past history. Let 



us ask the hearty sympathy and cooperation 
of societies already formed — The Pennsyl- 
vania Historical Society, The Germantown 
Library and Historical Society, The Colonial 
Dames, The City History Club, The Sons 
and Daughters of the Revolution, The Patri- 
otic Order Sons of America, The Science 
and Art, The Germantown Club, The Poli- 
tical Clubs, The Traction Company, The 
Business Men's Association. All should 
be interested in different ways and degrees. 
Let us make our membership broad, that all 
our citizens may be bound together in a 
common bond of civic pride and respect for 
the historic riches around us. 

Of course we may find that in some cases 
the owner of a private home may not wish 
for the pubhcity a tablet or sign might give 
him ; in that case let us not be insistent. Our 
organization should be planned for all time, 
— not for to-day or to-morrow. It may yet 
be the province of this body to secure and 
preserve through its efforts some priceless 



heirloom of the past. It is hard to conceive, 
yet you must all acknowledge it is not be- 
yond the range of possibility that in some 
distant day the Chew house, for instance, 
might be threatened with destruction. 
Imagine, if you can, a hundred little houses 
planned for its stately lawn ! With our 
proposed organization, alert and interested, 
such a sacrilege could be prevented. 

To cherish, save and mark these spots is 
an obligation we owe our own selves, our 
State, our country. The time is ripe, the 
urgency is great, the cause an honorable 
one. In doing it we shall not only win 
the grateful appreciation of thousands of 
interested countrymen, many of whom 
trace their descent to the home of the 
"Pennsylvania Pilgrim," but even more 
will our children's children and their chil- 
dren after them rise up in thankful appreci- 
ation that we, while it was not too late, 
rescued from oblivion some relic, some fact, 
some bit of history, that will grow in interest 
as the centuries gather round it. 



List of Members 



As prepared up to December 14th, 1900, Many names 
have been added since, 

Atkinson, Margaret D 5109 Wayne Street. 

Acker, Finlet Rubicam Avenue. 

Acker, Mrs. Finlet Rubicam Avenue. 

Barstow, William J m w. Washington Lane. 

Bacon, Francis L 5121 Pulaski Avenue. 

Bacon, Hannah J 5121 Pulaski Avenue. 

Belville, Dr. J. E 5915 Greene Street. 

BuRGiN, Dr. George H 63 W. Chelten Avenue. 

BuRGiN, Mrs. George H 63 W. Chelten Avenue. 

Brown, Henrt Tatnbll 5127 WajTie Street. 

Bradbury, Samuel 5441 Wayne Street. 

Bradbury, William H 239 Rittenhouse Street. 

Bbasley, Anna D Church Lane and Bellfield. 

Beale, Dr. Rupert G 48 E. Logan Street. 

Buckenham, J. E. Burnett . chestnut Hill. 

Barrett, Theodore 225 Tulpehocken Street. 

Brown, Wilson H Washington Lane & Morton St. 

Bruner, Daniel Pastorius . . . West Chelten Avenue. 

Chew, Mrs. Mary S. B Cliveden, Germantown. 

CarrigaN, W. S West Johnson Street. 

Chapman, Mrs. Mary E 6408 Main Street. 

Chapman, Francis 6408 Main Street. 

Chapman, William E 6408 Main Street. 

Church, W. A Penn and Knox Streets. 

Cook, Morris Llewellyn Walnut Lane and Wayne St. 

Cook, Mrs. Morris Llewellyn Walnut Lane and Wayne St. 

Cookman, Mrs. Wm. H 122 W. Washington Lane. 

Cresson, Miss Anne H 244 School Lane. 

Cresson, Charles Caleb ...5909 Greene Street. 

Cresson, Mrs, Sarah E 5909 Greene Street. 

Corson, Robert R 5121 Piilaski Avenue. 

Campbell, W. J 413 w. School Lane. 

Campbell, Miss Jane 413 W. School Lane. 

Canby, W. Marriott 307 Earlham Terrace. 

Cassidt, H. Gilbert East Washington Lane. 

Chase, Randall Summit Street, Chestnut HilL 

Closson, Dr. James H 53 W. Chelten Avenue. 

13 



Dixon, John C 261 W. Rittenhouse Street. 

Davis, Henry L 6100 Wayne Avenue. 

Davis, Henry L., Jr Burbridge Street. 

Davis, Mrs. Henry L., Jr Burbridge Street. 

Downs, Dr. R. N Greene St. and West Haines. 

Dye, John H 5910 Greene Street. 

Daughters of American Rev- 
olution, Germantown Chap- 
ter, National Society, by 
Mrs. E. W. J. Burgin 63 W. Chelten Avenue. 

Evans, Charles T 203 W. Walnut Lane. 

Fagan, Mrs. Mary Dorothea.. 120 W. Penn Street. 

Fahnestock, James F Johnson and McCalluni Sts. 

Foulke, Wm. G W. Tulpehocken Street. 

FOULKE, Mrs. Wm. G W. Tulpehocken Street. 

Freeman, Samuel T 206 E. Penn Street. 

Gates, James R 5334 Greene Street. 

Goodell, Edward P 223 E. Harvey Street. 

GooDELL, Mrs. Edward P 223 E. Harvey Street. 

Goldsmith, Edwin M 143 E. Coulter Street. 

GUMMEY, W. T 329 Pelham Road. 

Hartman, John M 227 Gowen Avenue. 

Haydock, Robert Roger 5323 Magnolia Avenue. 

Heyl, Rev. Francis 23 W. Upsal Street. 

Howell, Edward I. H 5218 Germantown Avenue. 

Howell, Anna Hazen 5218 Germantown Avenue. 

Henderson, George 6622 Greene Street. 

Hunsicker, Henry A 524 E. Penn Street. 

Harper, B. Frank 234 E. Penn Street. 

Jenkins, Charles Francis 150 W. Washington Lane. 

Jenkins, Mrs. Chas. Francis. 150 W. Washington Lane. 

Jones, Jane Shoemaker 143 W. Coulter Street. 

Jones, John Barclay 143 W. Coulter Street. 

Jenkins, Owen B Upsal Terrace. 

Johnson, Ellwood 6316 Main Street. 

Johnson, Elizabeth R Main and Washington Lane. 

Johnson, Sallie Wheeler ....Upsala, Germantown. 

Keator, John F 218 W. Walnut Lane. 

Keyser, Dr. Naaman H 33 Church Lane. 

Keyser, Romaine Main and Rittenhouse Streets, 

Lambert, Major Wm. H 330 W. Johnson Street. 

Lambert, Mrs. Wm. H 330 W. Johnson Street. 

Lloyd, Howard Williams 112 W. Tulpehocken Street. 

14 



Lybrand, William H 139 E. Walnut Lane. 

Ltbrand, Mrs. William H 139 E. Walnut Lane. 

LiPPiNCOTT, Horace Mather... 431 E. Walnut Lane. 

LoNOSTRETH, W. M Knox and Penn Streets. 

LuKBNS, Charles M 312 E. Walnut Lane. 

Lttkens, Mrs. Charles M 312 E. Walnut Lane. 

McCoRMiCK, Mrs. E. P 230 W. Tulpehocken Street. 

McCoRMiCK, Miss Mart B 230 W. Tulpehocken Street. 

McClellan, Miss Elizabeth ..189 Maplewood Avenue. 

McIlhenny, John Upsal Street. 

McIlhenny, Salina B Upsal Street. 

McIlhenstt, John D 252 W. Johnson Street. 

Mason, William A 212 W. Chelten Avenue. 

Montgomery, Robert R 139 E. Walnut Lane. 

Moore, Thomas Guerney 5927 Wayne Avenue. 

Moore, Mrs. Thos. Guerney.. 5927 Wayne Avenue. 

Morris, Elliston P 5442 Main Street. 

Morris, Marriott C 6706 Cresheim Road. 

Miller, Walter Pawson .517 E. Mt. Airy Avenue. 

Mellinger, Miss Margaret J. " The Linden," Germantown. 
Meehan, William E "Public Ledger." 

Nason, Rev. C. P. H 6135 Greene Street. 

Nason, Mrs. C. P. H 6135 Greene Street. 

Nichols, H. S. Prentiss 346 Pelham Road. 

Newport, Mrs. Wm. O 152 W. Walnut Lane. 

Otto, Charles W 9 W. School Lane. 

Pardee, Mrs. Calvin W. Walnut Lane. 

Paul, Mrs. Rebecca M Upsal Street. 

Peirce, Harold 149 W. Tulpehocken Street. 

Peirce, Mrs. Harold 149 w. Tulpehocken Street. 

Pennypacker, Hon. Samuel W.Pennvpacker's Mills, Pa. 

Perkins, Abraham R 302 W. Upsal Street. 

Perkins, Penrose R Greene Street. 

Perkins, Mrs. George H 413 S. Broad Street. 

POLEY, Warren H 6519 Germantown Avenue. 

Potter, Sheldon 48 W. Tulpehocken Street. 

Potter, Mrs. Sheldon 43 w. Tulpehocken Street. 

Peacock, Chancey H Lafayette College. 

Patton, W. W 5306 Main Street. 

Patton, Alfred G 5501 Main Street. 

Plumer, Henry Baldwin Lincoln Drive. 

Plumer, Miss Marjorie Lincoln Drive. 

Plumer, Miss Elvira Gilmore. Lincoln Drive. 

15 



inn 

014 312 216 5 



RtJNK, W. Setmoue -14_ 

Rttnk, Mrs. W. Seymour 448 Church Lane. 

Roberts, S. O., Jr 304 E. Walnut Lane. 

Randle, George Mather 10 N. Front Street. 

Randall, Edmund 235 W. Rittenhouse Street. 

Reeve, G. Stanley 6306 Germantown Avenue. 

RiTTER, James H 180 E. Walnut Lane. 

Richards, Mrs, Theodora B...W. Walnut Lane. 

Sanborn, Edw. H 39 Fisher's Lane. 

Sanborn, Harriet P - 39 Fisher's Lane. 

Savery, Albert H 5817 Greene Street. 

Schaefer, Charles J 5224 Morris Street. 

Sherman, Charles Pomerot ..5402 Wayne Avenue. 
Sherman, Mrs. Laura Alex- 
ander 5402 Wayne Avenue. 

Sheppard, Miss Mary 5443 Greene Street. 

Steinmetz, H. L 5010 Wayne Avenue. 

Schaefper, Dr. Wm. A W. School Lane. 

Shoemaker, Thomas H Tulpehocken Street. 

Tomlinson, Dr. W. H 44 E. Walnut Lane. 

Tyson, Canby S 239 Harvey Street. 

Tyson, Mrs. Canby S 239 Harvey Street. 

Umsted, John R 224 Apsley Street. 

Wallace, Wm. S 129 W. Horter Street. 

Welsh, Ashbel 152 W. Walnut Lane. 

Welsh, Mrs. Ashbel 152 W. Walnut Lane. 

Weitzel, E. Boyd 403 W. Chelten Avenue. 

Weitzel, M. Fannie Evans ..403 W. Chelten Avenue. 

Weygandt, Cornelius N 229 W. Upsal Street. 

Weygandt, Lucy E 229 W. Upsal Street. 

Whitesides, Miss Sarah M. . . Main Street and Queen Lane. 

WiSTER, Charles J Main Street and Queen Lane. 

WisTER, Alexander W Greene Street. 

WisTER, Hannah L Main Street. 

WiSTAR, Mrs. Cresson 5355 Knox Street. 

Wriggins, Charles E 507 Church Lane. 

Wilson, Ralph Graham Upsal Terrace. 

WooLSTON, Mrs. Joshua W....147 W. Chelten Avenue. 

WooLSTON, Joseph L ,147 W. Chelten Avenue. 

Williams, Mrs. Francis How- 
ard Greene and Coulter Streets. 

Zell, Miss Hannah Ann Locust Avenue. 

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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




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